We ask ChatGPT for an assist in developing our latest edition of Affirmations for Ad Agency Creative Directors—with unexpected results. 

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IN THIS EPISODE

📸 Nothing beats a celebrity endorsement … right? (at 01:18)
⚠️ Don't forget to harness the power of … punctuation? (01:29)
⚾️ The truth about spec work for RFPs (01:42)
🎪 Think: Experiential—no matter what? (02:02)
🤖 Generative AI isn't something to fear … until it is (at 02:17)

Approx. 2 minutes, 48 seconds. For US audiences. Review cookie and privacy policies for iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and all other streaming services.

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). Social Proofing. Tribalism. What are the most powerful psychological triggers for shaping consumer behavior and beliefs? In an all-new episode, we get insights from Jake McKenzie, CEO of Birmingham, AL-based Intermark Group, one of the nation's top psychology-driven ad agencies. By blending sociology, psychology, behavioral economics, and technology, it's possible to dramatically increase the efficacy of marketing programs. The problem: Far too many marketers start with a creative concept informed by demographic data masquerading as insight. In this can't-miss episode, we explore ways to hack the human psyche to boost marketing performance.

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IN THIS EPISODE:

🧐 An introduction to applied research and "creative psychology" (at 01:01)

🛍️ Adding psychographic insights to demographic data to optimize outcomes (01:43)

🦏 Animal House: Mohawk Flooring's carpet ride to market dominance (03:33)

📍 Building a better brief: Inside the mind-mapping process to make insights actionable (06:59)

👩🏼‍🦱 The problem with marketing personas: Context is everything (08: 57)

👀 The power of psychological heuristics like Social Proofing (10:36)

🍎 Who cares about product specs? Peer pressure doesn't fall far from Apple (12:50)

😳 Juicing demand by building a sense of scarcity–and why too many brands fear it (14:15)

🤓 Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and advances in neuromarketing (16:23)

👥 Focus groups: The need to get past what participants tell you (17:44)

🚭 Smoking surprise: The least and most predictive indicators of a future purchase (18:33)

🙅🏽‍♀️ Why anti-drug campaigns fail to leverage what works in changing behavior (20:13)

✊🏼 Harley-Davidson & Rita's Italian Ice: How brands can tap tribal psychology (21:03)

Approx. 24 minutes, 18 seconds. For US audiences. Review cookie and privacy policies for iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and all other streaming services.

Think digital advertising is seeing the biggest increase in marketing budgets this year? Think again. Meanwhile, is e-commerce up, down, or sideways relative to pre-pandemic levels? And who's raking it in if Amazon isn't? Plus: Oscar Mayer's "Meat Fleet" is getting a rebrand. So what are they calling the 87-year-old Wienermobile now?

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IN THIS EPISODE:

📫 What's growing fastest: digital ad spend or…? (at 00:50)
🌭 What do you call an 87-year-old Wienermobile? Cybertruck? (at 03:05)
🏪 Is e-commerce getting old? Or just the online-only variety? (at 04:11)
📊 Are e-commerce sales ⬆️, ⬇️, or ↔️ vs. pre-pandemic levels? (at 04:57)
🛒 Is BOPIS eating the e-commerce giants' lunches? (at 05:18)

Approx. 6 minutes, 30 seconds. For US audiences. Review cookie and privacy policies for iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and all other streaming services.

⁉️ It's time for a quick round of Loaded Questions featuring questions about Snapchat's new AR initiative for Men's Wearhouse, consumer confusion over phrases like "Powered by AI" and more.

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IN THIS EPISODE

🥽 Forget cosplay lenses: Snapchat AR is going retail—just in time for prom season (at 00:39)
💸 A $700 million settlement rocks the media world (at 02:40)
🤖 WTF does "powered by AI" mean? Confused consumers want to know (at 04:32)
🪄 Canva's alternative word for "AI" that's pure–we'll, you'll just have to hear for yourself (at 05:45)

Approx. 6 minutes, 44 seconds. For US audiences. Review cookie and privacy policies for iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and all other streaming services.

Pepsi rolls out its first new logo in 14 years. Cottonelle Ultra Clean toilet paper gets up close and personal with 'Tales From…Down There.' NASA names the best—and worst—sci-fi movies of all time. Why Bud Light's missteps may have caused March-through-May Madness, plus a whole lot more. From May 9. 

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IN THIS EPISODE

🌏 Where in the world wasn't Rick Wootten? (at 01:02)
🧟‍♂️ Finally catching "The Last of Us" (at 03:07)
🏆 Did 2023's Best Picture really deserve winning Everything, Everywhere? (at 06:04)
👽 Surprises in NASA's Best & Worst Sci-Fi movies of all time (at 08:08)
🥤 Pepsi's new logo: Choice of a new generation? Same-old, same-old? Or both? (at 11:57)
🧨 Why Bud Light's March-to-May Madness went so wrong (at 15:04)
💩 Cottonelle Ultra Clean's "Tales From…Down There" gets the gunk out (at 18:11)

Approx. 20 minutes, 47 seconds. For US audiences. Review cookie and privacy policies for iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and all other streaming services.

If the trajectory of Whit Hiler's advertising career strikes you as unconventional, that's only because it is. Forget the background in art or copy. Hiler took a different route to becoming an executive creative director—and so far, it's working out pretty darn well for him.

In fact, mere minutes into a conversation with him, two things happen. First, you can't help but like the guy. And second, you start to appreciate the virtue of possessing just the right amount of naïveté to pursue ambitions someone who "knows better" might foolishly dismiss out of hand.

In this Rick and Quick interview, this ECD at Lexington, Kentucky-based ad agency Cornett (teamcornett.com) talks about his evolution from car salesman, to agency new business rep, to award-winning creative chief. Along the way, he shares how this 50-person Ad Age "Small Agency of the Year" (2021) scored a little account called Legoland Resorts—and helped A&W fix a 40-year-old "marketing fail." From March 21.

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IN THIS EPISODE

🚗 Driving a Modern Don Draper: The evolution as a 21st Century Mad Man (at 0:58)
👕 From retail logos to Legoland Resorts: How hard lessons beget big wins (at 1:24)
👩🏻‍💼 Behind every great ad agency: The wife-slash-boss leading Cornett (at 2:38)
🥊 Joining and jousting A-List agencies for the win—one interlocking plastic brick at a time (at 6:00)
🍔 Helping A&W fix a 40-year-old marketing fail with a little help from "A Beautiful Mind" (at 8:19)

Approx. 11 minutes, 15 seconds. For US audiences. Review cookie and privacy policies for iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and all other streaming services.

📺 On February 12, advertisers spent millions to showcase their commercials during one of the year's biggest television broadcasts. But how well do you remember their spots? In an episode recorded on Super Bowl Sunday, the Ricks test your recall and discuss the best—and worst—commercials of Ad Bowl 2023. From February 28.

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IN THIS EPISODE:

💰 A :30 second spot during this year's Super Bowl will cost you … how much? (at 02:03)
🏰 One man's Super Bowl commercial is another man's Castle Idaho (at 03:02)
🔺 Jack Harlow, Missy Elliott and Elton John push all the angles for this brand (at 03:59)
🚬 Maya Rudolf clams up over her effort to replace M&Ms with … something chewier (at 05:14)
😮‍💨 Jeep 4xe may destroy animal habitats, but at least it won't pollute them (at 06:28)
🐾 What's the best spot from this year's Super Bowl? Our ruff guesses (at 07:29)
🙏🏻 He Gets Us—but do we get Him? Our hot take (at 10:18)
🎭 Ben Stiller and Steve Martin really love Pepsi Zero Sugar … or do they? (at 12:26)
🤐 TurboTax gets footloose–but what is Melissa McCarthy saying in that Booking.com spot? (at 13:42)
💊 The cast of 'Breaking Bad' wants to give you the munchies—will you bite? (at 14:36)
🤣 Rick W. poses a question that has everything—except a correct answer (at 15:52)

Approx. 17 minutes, 7 seconds. For US audiences. Review cookie and privacy policies for iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and all other streaming services.

🔮 In the conclusion to their 2023 Trend Watch, the Ricks discuss the waning influence of influencers. Brands recommit to experiential marketing. Home automation sees new adoption. And while Rick M. has trouble with pronouncing "2023 Trend Watch" while Rick W. struggles with the name of Pantone's Color of the Year. From February 22. 

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IN THIS EPISODE

🤩 Influencer marketing loses altitude while community gains new clout (at 0:40)
🐣 The rebirth of Experiential Marketing—no consumer devices required (at 2:26)
🛠️ Home automation and its use cases rev up, but we may not even recognize it (at 4:44)
🔕 Memo to brands: easy-to-manage notifications, please (at 8:18)
🫣 Consumer sentiment, ethical AI, and other CMO concerns for 2023 (at 9:41)
🛍️ From Metaverse to AI: What's hot or not to retailers in 2023 (at 11:01)
🎨 And Pantone's Color of the Year is … easy for you to say (at 11:34)

Approx. 13 minutes and six seconds. For US audiences. Review cookie and privacy policies for iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and all other streaming services.

In our annual Predictions Scorecard episode, the Ricks revisit their big predictions for the year—what they got right, what they got ridiculously wrong, in the worlds of marketing, media, tech and pop culture. Plus: Cuffing Season pick-up lines generated by ChatGPT, Netflix's "1899" cranks up "The Volume," and a whole lot more. From December 28, 2022. 

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IN THIS EPISODE:

📖 Rick M sends Rick W a "Die Hard" children's holiday gift book (at 1-min 57-sec)
🎬 "1899" on Netflix cranks up "The Volume" (at 3:25)
🦶🏼 Rick M's predictions about a Lotrimin-branded NFT (at 5:00)
📺 Overly-optimistic about box office, but nailing streaming(at 5:48)
🏢 Mixed results on predictions for the hybrid workforce (at 7:37)
📈 Adding a "D" for "Democracy" to ESG Funds? Not yet (at 9:46)
🦠 "What Covid?" by Summer & return to lockdowns by Fall? (at 10:50)
0️⃣ Nailing the # of Tesla Cybertrucks delivered in 2022 (at 12:36)
🌐 Metaverse: Boom time or empty & sad virtual worlds? (at 13:37)
🤖 ChatGPT's best pick-up lines come with warnings (at 17:35)
🤬 Survey says: "The gift that keeps on grating" (at 19:52)
🏈 Look who's advertising in Super Bowl LVII (at 20:48)

Approx. 22 minutes and 20 seconds. For US audiences. Review cookie and privacy policies for iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and all other streaming services.

🎅🏼 In a new Rick & Quick episode, the Ricks reveal their annual list of the hottest but hardest-to-get tech gifts for Holiday 2022. For the first time ever, a previous year's winner has returned to what is widely seen as the ultimate barometer of global holiday zeitgeist. Please accept our apologies in advance. From December 14, 2022. 

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⛄️ IN THIS EPISODE:

The 3️⃣ Hottest But Hardest to Get Tech Gifts for Holiday 2022:

🛻 #3: The gift described as "game-changing," "shatterproof," and "coming soon" continues to prove it isn't.

🐦 #2: Two nifty ways to kill one little blue bird.

🤓 #1: A lightweight headset that could give Meta Quest Pro a run for the money—at a fraction of the cost.

Approx. 3-minutes and 38-seconds. For US audiences. Review cookie and privacy policies for iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and all other streaming services.